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View Full Version : Anyone used entertainment.com [for hotel rates]?



bradk
02-05-2005, 11:16 PM
i figured i'd try the 10 day free trial (even at 3.99/mo, it doesn't seem so bad) and so one of the things they offer is 50% off the rack rate for any room or 10% off the lowest promotional rate, whichever gives the best value on a lot of hotels on harbor blvd

anyone familiar with this? is it worth it?

stinkerbell
02-05-2005, 11:27 PM
Hey there! I usually buy the Entertainment books from entertainment.com and I have used their program to book a hotel.

We stayed at HoJo Anaheim for $45/night for 8 nights in April one year! I've heard of other similar deals. It's worth it in my experience! :)

bradk
02-05-2005, 11:44 PM
thanks for the response :)

so i'm guessing it's probably worth the $4/month if i can halve the hotel cost for a couple of days.

the only thing that has me confused about it is it says if i print the coupon today, it expires 2/20/05. does that mean i can't make a reservation past 2/20 now? because it also talks about how some hotels won't accept reservations more than 30 days ahead.

bradk
02-05-2005, 11:54 PM
i think i understand it. i can make reservations for any time as long as the hotel is agreeable to it and then i just need to print the coupon within 2 weeks before my stay.

that's pretty amazing since the blockout dates seem to be minimal at best, if there are any to begin with (hojo doesn't appear to have any)

this is gonna save me a crapload of money if it works since i'm gonna be in 4 hotels/cities over 10 days and the 50% off hotel offer doesn't seem to be locked to a particular subscription region. no matter where you're subscribed to, you can get the hotel discount anywhere it seems.

SarahJanet
02-06-2005, 10:54 AM
All of the hotels I called did not honour Entertainment discounts while we're there. Granted, it's in spring break season, but I'd check with the hotel first. One of them said that they don't use the entertainment coupons any time when they predict that they will be more than 50% full. It's pretty arbitrary, as far as I can tell.

I Heart Disneyland!
02-06-2005, 11:04 AM
I used it for a trip to New York City 2 years ago, and we got a 2 bedroom apartment, with a great view for just over $250 a night! I love those books!

So, you can sign up online now?? I have to check it out. I used the coupon book too.

bradk
02-06-2005, 11:27 AM
according to entertainment.com, the cutoff is when they're 80% full. but who knows. if they don't take it, someone else probably will. it looks like virtually every hotel in the immediate DL area is listed on there. and for $4 it's worth trying :)

and yes, iheart, it's $3.99/mo (i think price might vary based on area) or $40 for the year i think. no card or book, but it looks like you get all the benefits, just need to print out the coupon within 2 weeks of use.

SarahJanet
02-06-2005, 12:45 PM
Brad, I mentioned that to the hotels I spoke to, and they said that the entertainment website is obviously trying to convince you to buy it, but it's often not honoured by the hotels themselves if they expect to be busy. I would suggest calling the hotels first and just asking if they'll give you the entertainment discount. If they say yes (and you may be going at a much less busy time than me - we have unfortunate timing), then buy the coupon, but I would call before buying.

bradk
02-06-2005, 12:55 PM
gotcha, thanks. i'm on a 10 day free trial now which i expect to cancel since i won't need it til may anyway. just wanted to make sure it was on the up and up and that i can book now even tho the coupons are only good for 14 days when you print them.

i'd rather have it work in san diego more anyway, got 5 nights there. either way, i was prepared to pay a whole other amount to begin with, so if it doesn't work, no harm done. just would be nice to save a lot of money too :)

stinkerbell
02-06-2005, 08:20 PM
HoJo does have a block-out time period.....our last trip from Dec. 26-Jan. 1 was a block-out for the Entertainment Discount (no surprise, of course ;) ), but the HoJo reservations person I talked to encouraged me to check around with other sites, since HoJo couldn't discount lower than $99/nt. for the week we were there. I thought it was so cool that she encouraged me to look into something cheaper, as long as we stayed there.

We found a $63/nt. price at www.hotelclub.com (http://www.hotelclub.com) through www.travelaxe.net (http://www.travelaxe.net) at HoJo for the Christmas week, which I thought was extremely good for that week. Another site I really like is www.hotelkingdom.com (http://www.hotelkingdom.com). They have some good rates, but sell out quickly.

There are some really amazing rates out there for the Disneyland area--I'm sure you'll find something. I once stayed at Desert Inn for $43/nt. I got that rate by calling the hotel and quoting the prices from its website!! :D They were trying to make me pay much more than that until I let them know that their quotes online were much cheaper.

got2travel
02-07-2005, 10:39 AM
You'll get a better rate by calling the hotel directly instead of booking on Entertainment.com. I've never seen the 50% rate offered online for dates that I have gotten it by calling the hotel. And, even if the hotel can't give you the 50% off, they'll still give you a break off the rack rate.

bradk
02-07-2005, 10:48 AM
whee. so here's my latest update.

first let me say, for anyone that travels at least one week a year, this thing is a MUST.

i first called carousel which is my first choice (because it's rated fairly well and it's right across the park and their rate is $89, so i would have gotten it for $45 per night), but they told me i had to call within 30 days of check-in date, i guess to maximize their chances of getting guests at higher rates. fine by me, i'll call april 21 and check again.

so my second choice was hojo (just not crazy about the walk, but you do what you gotta do). she told me i need to present my entertainment card at the desk at check in. i explained i was doing it through entertainment.com and they provide you with a coupon to print out instead. she double-checked and said they need the card itself, which you only get by buying a book.

so i went to entertainment.com and speculated since the hotel benefit was nationwide and that's all i needed, i could just buy the cheapest book available and use that. i called the toll-free number just in case to confirm with entertainment. after explaining my situation to the CSR (that all i needed it for was the hotel), she kindly suggested i could simply purchase the card itself for $15. she added if i wished to use it for any restaurants or what not, i would just have to go online to look because i won't have a directory to refer to.

so now that my card is ordered, (standard delivery 7-10 business days), i call back hojo. out of my 2 night stay, 1 night is not available due to occupancy (hojo will let you reserve at the entertainment rate at any point throughout the year, as long as their occupancy rate is below 80%). so she offered me the first night at $69 (which is what the discount sites are offering it for). i was then able to apply the mousesavers discount for that night, so i got it down to $58. i did get the second night at the entertainment rate of $49.

so bottom line, i have hojo reserved for 2 nights at a total of 107.60, which means i'm currently saving $50 over what i had previously budgeted for an apparent much worse hotel too (the ramada maingate / saga). if i had reserved earlier in the year (maybe even a day earlier), i could have gotten the $49 rate for saturday as well. so timing is everything.

bradk
02-07-2005, 10:53 AM
You'll get a better rate by calling the hotel directly instead of booking on Entertainment.com. I've never seen the 50% rate offered online for dates that I have gotten it by calling the hotel. And, even if the hotel can't give you the 50% off, they'll still give you a break off the rack rate.

just to clarify, on the entertainment.com site, there are two hotel options. the default one ('guaranteed best rates') where you input dates isn't the entertainment offer, that's through some web booking site. and yes, the rates through there aren't great. there's a 'tab' to click on called 'hotels at half price' which you click on and it will give you a list of the hotels that offer the 50% off rack rate (or 10% off lowest published rate, whichever results in a lower price). you still have to call the hotel directly to reserve, but you ask for the entertainment discount which is offered pending availability. you will just need to show the entertainment card at check in.

stinkerbell
02-07-2005, 11:24 AM
Well done!!

SarahJanet
02-07-2005, 03:50 PM
Wow, I'm impressed. I guess a lot of it has to do with dates - nobody would give me an entertainment discount for Easter weekend. Sigh.

bradk
02-07-2005, 04:10 PM
well naturally if they're gonna sell hotel rooms at the full rate, or at least a better price, they'll do it. i guess that's why carousel likes to hold out until 30 days prior.

my luck stopped there, tho. i called a few other hotels for my longer stay in san diego. best i could do was match what either their website already gives me or what orbitz gives me.

of course it hurts that it happens to be memorial day weekend.

i'll just have to make up for it by attempting to use it later this year on other smaller trips.

for anyone who wants to stay at hojo and can't/doesn't want to use the entertainment discount, the mousesavers discount is pretty darn good too.

SuefromRI
02-07-2005, 06:22 PM
I've never booked through the website, I call the hotel and ask for the entertainment rate, and bring my card, which half the time they don't even ask to see at check-in. I buy the book every year for $20 through our local school and they get to keep $10 and I get to get discounts. I have used it at the hotels at Universal Orlando and stayed at the Portofino, the fanciest one there for $150 a night instead of $300. It is worth it cuz of the front of the line passes and the close proximity. I also got a good rate at the Residence Inn in Torrance, with a suite with a loft with an extra bedroom and bath and full kitchen for the same price that a regular room would be for the area. I figure it never hurts to ask at any hotel if they have an Entertainment rate, which is usually good, even if not a total of 50%.
I always get more than my money's worth by just using the discounts for the cleaners and video store for rent one get one free, never mind the McD, Dunkin Donuts, etc, even one free dinner and then any hotel discounts. I buy books for gifts as well, to help the school and cuz they can save so much moneyover one year.

bradk
02-09-2005, 10:31 AM
This thing is great!

For any interested parties, a quick update:

details of my trip have changed significantly as i was planning on dedicating a day to tijuana, but after reading some first hand accounts of visits to the city, i decided i value my life slightly more. that is to say, if i'm going to wake up dead in mexico, i wish it to be from an irreversible tequila-induced coma.

so with one extra day to spare, i decided to devote it to DLR and allow myself to extend my planned time at Universal. Long story short, called up HoJo and added another night to my reservation at the entertainment rate of $49, so over the 2 nights, I've saved a total of $40 off the travel sites' best price and $20 less than the mousesavers rate (which I'm using for the first night). which means the $15 investment on the entertainment card is now paid for with some return.

and jennifer in reservations is the best